The New Orleans Boosters captured the franchise’s 15th AAABA Tournament crown with a 4-1 victory over Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors in front of an estimated 3,500 fans on Saturday night at Point Stadium.
The Boosters finished 6-0 while the Johnstown-2 representative went 4-2 while becoming the city’s first franchise to advance to the title game in back-to-back seasons.
New Orleans benefitted from outstanding pitching throughout the tournament, posting a 1.26 earned run average, and got more of the same in the title game.
Starter Jonathan Ebersole pitched six-plus innings for the win, allowing only one run. The recent Virginia Commonwealth University graduate closed his amateur career in strong fashion by posting a 1-0 record and 0.82 ERA in two tournament appearances.
Chris Turpin retired nine of the 10 batters he faced for the save. Turpin had a 0.00 ERA in 10 innings during tournament week.
Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors center fielder Raven Beeman earned the tournament MVP honors as well as the AAABA Tournament batting title.
Beeman had at least one hit in all six games while posting a .619 batting average (13-for-21), with three doubles, three RBIs and four runs scored.
Zanesville Junior Pioneers’ Riley Lake led the tournament with nine RBIs.
The Philadelphia Bandits took the tournament Sportsmanship Award.
Beeman also was presented the Johnstown franchise MVP award by The Tribune-Democrat.
New Orleans appeared in its 26th AAABA Tournament title game. In addition to 15 championships, the franchise has 11 runner-up finishes.